Battery Module

2024 The present application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0166406, filed on Nov. 20,, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Aspects of some embodiments according to the present disclosure relate to a battery module.

A secondary battery is designed to be charged and discharged without damaging the secondary battery, unlike a primary battery which is not designed to be charged. Low-capacity secondary batteries may be used in portable small-sized electronic devices, such as smartphones, feature phones, laptop computers, digital cameras, and camcorders, while high-capacity secondary batteries may be used as energy sources for driving motors in hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and the like, and a battery for power storage. Such a secondary battery includes an electrode assembly having a positive electrode and a negative electrode, a case housing the electrode assembly, electrode terminals connected to the electrode assembly, and the like.

The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background and therefore the information discussed in this Background section does not necessarily constitute prior art.

Aspects of some embodiments include a battery module with relatively improved stability and durability.

However, aspects of some embodiments of the present disclosure are not restricted to those set forth herein. The other embodiments of the disclosure will become more apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains by referencing the detailed description of the disclosure given below.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a battery module includes a plurality of battery cells each including a terminal part on one side of the corresponding battery cell and a vent at an opposite side to the one side, and a cooling plate including a cooling passage extending in a direction in which the plurality of battery cells are arranged, wherein the cooling plate includes a vent gas passage arranged to correspond to the vents of the plurality of battery cells.

According to some embodiments, the cooling plate may include a main surface arranged to correspond to surfaces, at which the vents are formed, of the plurality of battery cells, and wing surfaces bent and extending from the main surface to correspond to outer surfaces of the plurality of battery cells.

According to some embodiments, the battery module may further include a thermal interface material (TIM) layer arranged between the plurality of battery cells and the cooling plate.

According to some embodiments, the TIM layer may include a shape open to correspond to the respective vents.

According to some embodiments, the cooling plate may include a stopper arranged between the pair of adjacent battery cells.

According to some embodiments, the stopper may be detachably fastened to the cooling plate.

According to some embodiments, the stopper may have an area of 2% to 30% of each of opposing surfaces between the battery cells.

According to some embodiments, the stopper may include a material having a different thermal conductivity from that of the cooling plate.

According to some embodiments, the cooling plate may include openings corresponding to the respective vents, and may further include blocking layers configured to block the openings.

According to some embodiments, the blocking layer may melt at least in part in case that the blocking layer reaches at least a certain temperature due to ignition or heat generation of the battery cell.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a battery module includes a plurality of battery cells each including a terminal part on one side of the corresponding battery cell and a vent at an opposite side to the one side, and a cooling plate including a cooling passage extending in a direction in which the plurality of battery cells are arranged, wherein the cooling plate includes a stopper arranged between adjacent cells of the battery cells.

According to some embodiments, the cooling plate may include a main surface arranged to correspond to surfaces, at which the vents are formed, of the plurality of battery cells, and wing surfaces bent and extending from the main surface to correspond to outer surfaces of the plurality of battery cells.

According to some embodiments, the battery module may further include a thermal interface material (TIM) layer arranged between the plurality of battery cells and the cooling plate.

According to some embodiments, the TIM layer may include a shape open to correspond to the respective vents.

According to some embodiments, the cooling plate may further include a vent gas passage arranged to correspond to the vents of the plurality of battery cells.

According to some embodiments, the stopper may be detachably fastened to the cooling plate.

According to some embodiments, the stopper may have an area of 2% to 30% of each of opposing surfaces between the battery cells.

According to some embodiments, the stopper may include a material having a different thermal conductivity from that of the cooling plate.

According to some embodiments, the cooling plate may include openings corresponding to the respective vents, and may further include blocking layers configured to block the openings.

According to some embodiments, the blocking layer may melt at least in part in case that the blocking layer reaches at least a certain temperature due to ignition or heat generation of the battery cell.

Hereinafter, aspects of some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Prior to this, terms or words used in this specification and claims should not be interpreted as limited to their usual or dictionary meanings, and should be interpreted as meanings and concepts that conform to the technical idea of the disclosure based on the principle that the inventor may appropriately define the concept of the term in order to explain his or her own invention in the best way. Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations illustrated in the drawings are only some embodiments of the disclosure and do not represent all of the technical ideas of the disclosure, and it should be understood that there may be various equivalents and modified examples that may replace those embodiments at the time of filing this application.

Additionally, the terms “comprise or include” and/or “comprising or including” as used herein specify the presence of stated features, numbers, steps, operations, members, elements, and/or groups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, operations, members, elements, and/or groups thereof.

Additionally, to help understanding of the disclosure, the accompanying drawings are not drawn to scale, but the dimensions of some components may be exaggerated. Furthermore, the same element in different embodiments may be given the same reference number.

Although the terms first, second, and the like may be used herein to describe various components, these components are not limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one component from another, and unless otherwise stated, it is of course the case that a first component may also be a second component.

Throughout the specification, unless otherwise stated, each component may be singular or plural.

Any configuration being placed “above (or below)” a component or “on (or under)” a component may mean not only that any configuration is placed in contact with the upper surface (or lower surface) of a component, but also that other configurations may be interposed between the component and any configuration placed on (or below) the component.

Further, when one component is described as being “connected”, “coupled”, or “connected” to another component, the components can be directly connected or able to be connected to the other component; however, it is also to be understood that an additional component can be “interposed” between the two components, or the two components can be “connected”, “coupled” or “connected” through an additional component. Also, when it is said that a part is electrically coupled to another part, this includes not only cases where they are directly connected, but also cases where they are connected with another element in between.

1 FIG. 2 FIG. 3 FIG. 2 FIG. 1 1 10 1 is a schematic perspective view of an example of a battery moduleaccording to some embodiments, andis a schematic exploded perspective view of an example of the battery moduleaccording to some embodiments. Also,is a schematic perspective view of an example of a battery cellof the battery moduleof.

1 2 FIGS.and 1 100 10 200 10 Referring to, a battery moduleaccording to some embodiments may include a cell unitincluding a plurality of battery cells, and a cooling platehaving at least one surface arranged adjacent to the plurality of battery cells.

10 10 100 10 10 The plurality of battery cellsmay be arranged in one direction x so that wide surfaces of the battery cellsoppose each other, and may form a cell unitwhich is a set of the plurality of battery cellsarranged in one row. The plurality of battery cellsarranged may be fixed by a housing.

105 10 106 105 105 10 10 10 10 106 10 105 106 The housing may include a pair of end plateswhich oppose the wide surfaces of the battery cells, and side platesconnecting the pair of end plates. The end platemay appropriately pressurize the opposite wide surface of the battery cell, to suppress volume expansion of the battery cellupon an occurrence of swelling of the battery cell, thereby suppressing or reducing performance degradation of the battery cell. The side platemay support side surfaces of the battery cells. The pair of end platesand side platesmay be connected by members, such as bolts, but are not limited thereto, and any method that may be used for fastening may be adopted.

3 FIG. 10 11 12 11 12 15 15 Referring to, the battery cellmay include a terminal part,including a first terminaland a second terminal, and may also include a battery caseand an electrode assembly and electrolyte housed inside the battery case. The electrode assembly may electrochemically react with the electrolyte to generate energy.

11 12 10 11 12 10 11 12 11 12 11 12 11 12 The terminal part,electrically connected to a connection tab may be arranged on one side of the battery cell. The terminal part,of the battery cellmay include a first terminaland a second terminalhaving different polarities. For example, in case that the first terminalis a positive terminal, the second terminalmay be a negative terminal, and in another example, in case that the first terminalis a negative terminal, the second terminalmay be a positive terminal. That is, the first terminaland the second terminalmay be formed electrically different in polarity, and may not be limited to specific polarities.

11 12 10 11 10 12 10 12 10 11 10 The terminal parts,of the adjacent battery cellsmay be electrically connected in series and/or in parallel. For example, the first terminalof one battery cellmay be electrically connected to the second terminalof another adjacent battery cell, and the second terminalof the one battery cellmay be electrically connected to the first terminalof still another adjacent battery cell.

1 FIG. 1 FIG. 10 The description has been given as an example of a serial connection in, but the connection structure is not limited to the serial structure, and various connection structures may be adopted as needed. Additionally, the number and arrangement of battery cellsare not limited to the structure illustrated inand may vary as needed.

13 10 10 According to some embodiments, a vent, which is an outlet for gas generated inside the battery cell, may be formed at another side of the battery cell.

10 10 10 10 10 10 10 As the temperature of one battery cellrises, a protective layer (SEI layer) of a negative electrode of the battery cellmay be decomposed and destroyed, and thereby the electrolyte inside the battery cellmay be thermally decomposed, thereby generating flammable gas. Furthermore, oxygen may be generated due to the decomposition of oxide of a positive electrode in the battery cell. Due to the generation of all three elements of fire, i.e., heat, fuel (flammable gas), and oxygen, thermal runaway may occur in the battery cell. In case that the thermal runaway occurs in the battery cell, the thermal runaway may spread to other adjacent battery cellsdue to heat generation and explosion.

13 11 12 10 11 12 10 13 10 The ventmay be arranged at the side different from the one side where the terminal part,of the battery cellis located. Accordingly, the terminal parts,of the battery cellsmay be suppressed from being damaged in the process of discharging, through the vent, vent gas and other substances generated in the battery cellwhen the thermal runaway has occurred.

1 10 In case that the battery moduledisclosed herein is used in an electric vehicle, vent gas and other substances of the battery cellmay be discharged downward, i.e., toward the ground, which is opposite to an occupant in the electric vehicle, thereby relatively improving the safety of the electric vehicle.

200 100 10 10 A cooling platemay be located adjacent to the cell unitincluding the plurality of battery cellsto perform cooling or fire-extinguishing for the plurality of battery cells.

200 200 10 10 The cooling platemay store cooling liquid inside. The cooling platemay perform cooling for the plurality of battery cellsby transferring heat generated by the plurality of battery cellsto outside using the cooling liquid.

200 10 200 10 13 10 200 10 200 1 10 The cooling platemay be located at one side of the plurality of battery cells. According to some embodiments, the cooling platemay be arranged to oppose surfaces of the plurality of battery cellswhere the ventsare formed. In case that heat is generated in the plurality of battery cells, the heat may be transferred to the cooling platelocated adjacent to the plurality of battery cells. The cooling platemay transfer the received heat to the outside of the battery module, thereby cooling the plurality of battery cells.

200 200 10 10 The cooling platemay store fire-extinguishing liquid inside. For example, in case that the cooling platesatisfies a certain temperature condition, the stored fire-extinguishing liquid may flow toward the plurality of battery cells, thereby performing fire-extinguishing for the plurality of battery cells. The fire-extinguishing liquid may be a fire-extinguishing liquid that may be generally used by those skilled in the art, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

4 FIG. 4 FIG. 200 200 is a schematic perspective view of an example of the cooling plateaccording to the disclosure. The cooling platewill be described in more detail with reference to.

200 201 10 The cooling platemay include a cooling passageextending along a direction in which the plurality of battery cellsare arranged.

201 200 10 The cooling passagemay perform a heat dissipation function by guiding cooling liquid or a fire-extinguishing liquid, stored inside the cooling plate, to flow along the direction in which the plurality of battery cellsare arranged.

200 230 13 10 According to some embodiments, the cooling platemay include a vent gas passagearranged to correspond to the ventsof the battery cells.

10 1 230 10 Vent gas and other substances generated due to thermal runaway of one battery cellmay be quickly discharged to the outside of the battery modulethrough the vent gas passage, thereby suppressing heat and strong pressure from being transmitted to other adjacent battery cells.

230 201 200 230 1 In this instance, the vent gas passagemay be located adjacent to the cooling passageformed in the cooling plate, and high-temperature vent gas and other substances discharged through the vent gas passagemay be quickly cooled, thereby relatively improving the stability of the battery module.

200 210 201 10 13 13 10 210 200 230 230 201 210 The cooling platemay include a main surfacein which the cooling passageis formed and which is arranged to correspond to the surfaces of the battery cellswith the vents. Accordingly, heat discharged through the ventsof the battery cellsmay be cooled. In addition, the main surfaceof the cooling platemay be a surface including the vent gas passage, and may perform a function of rapidly lowering the temperatures of vent gas and other substances discharged into the vent gas passagethrough the cooling passageformed in the main surface.

200 220 210 220 10 10 200 100 1 The cooling platemay further include wing surfacesbent and extending from the main surface. The wing surfacesmay be arranged to correspond to other surfaces, for example, outer surfaces of the plurality of battery cells, for example, opposite side surfaces in the direction in which the plurality of battery cellsare arranged. This may increase a surface area of the cooling platein contact with the cell unit, thereby relatively improving the cooling effect for the battery module.

2 FIG. 1 300 10 200 300 10 200 1 Referring again to, the battery modulemay further include a thermal interface material (TIM) layerarranged between the plurality of battery cellsand the cooling plate. The TIM layermay facilitate the transfer of heat generated from the battery cellsto the cooling plate, thereby relatively improving the cooling function for the battery module.

300 13 13 230 In this instance, the TIM layermay include a shape which is open to correspond to each vent. This structure may suppress in advance the interference with the discharge of the vent gas and other substances, which are discharged through the ventsduring thermal runaway, into the vent gas passage.

200 13 240 The cooling platemay include openings corresponding to the respective ventsand may further include blocking layerswhich block the openings.

200 13 230 10 The opening formed through the cooling platemay facilitate the discharge of vent gas and other substances from the corresponding ventinto the vent gas passageupon the occurrence of thermal runaway of the battery cell.

13 According to some embodiments, the shape shown in the drawing is illustrative, and the shape of the opening may not have to be circular, and any shape may be adopted as long as it may be arranged to correspond to the vent.

240 10 10 The blocking layermay block the corresponding opening to suppress the propagation of vent gas and other substances to other battery cellswhere thermal runaway has not occurred even though the vent gas and other substances are emitted due to thermal runaway of an adjacent battery cell.

240 13 10 240 10 240 240 10 230 1 According to some embodiments, the blocking layerthat blocks the opening corresponding to the ventof the battery cell, in which thermal runaway has occurred, may melt at least in part in case that the temperature of the blocking layerexceeds a certain temperature due to ignition or heat generation of the corresponding battery cell. For example, the blocking layermay include any one material with a low melting point, of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin, polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), or polytetrafluoroethylene (PFA). Accordingly, the blocking layermay open the opening by melting at a temperature ranging from 80° C. to 250° C., such that the vent gas and other substances generated in the battery cellwhere thermal runaway has occurred may be rapidly discharged into the vent gas passageor to the outside of the battery module.

240 10 240 The blocking layermay have a thickness of 0.3 mm or less and may be broken by strong pressure which is applied when the vent gas is emitted due to thermal runaway of the battery cell. In this instance, the blocking layermay include an aluminum (Al) material, but is not limited thereto.

5 FIG. 6 FIG. 7 FIG. 1 250 250 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an example of the battery moduleaccording to the disclosure.is a schematic perspective view of an example of a stopperaccording to the disclosure, andis a schematic perspective view of another example of the stopperaccording to the disclosure.

5 6 FIGS.and 200 250 10 250 10 250 251 10 10 Referring to, the cooling platemay further include a stopperlocated between the pair of battery cellsadjacent to each other. The stoppermay be arranged as a plurality of stoppers between the plurality of battery cellsin one direction x. According to some embodiments, the stoppermay include a support portionarranged between the wide surfaces of the plurality of battery cellsopposing each other to support the battery cells.

250 10 10 1 10 200 10 1 The stoppermay be installed to support one side surface of the battery cellto facilitate the alignment of the plurality of battery cellswhen assembling the battery module, and support the battery cellsmounted on the cooling plateso that the battery cellsare not pushed out by strong pressure upon the occurrence of thermal runaway, thereby relatively improving the structural stability of the battery module.

250 10 1 1 In addition, the stoppermay suppress heat transfer and propagation of vent gas and other substances between the plurality of battery cellsarranged adjacent to each other, thereby extending the lifespan of the battery moduleand relatively improving the reliability of the battery module.

250 251 3 100 200 200 250 250 10 6 FIG. In this instance, the stoppermay be formed such that the support portion, as a structure protruding toward a direction (DRin) in which the cell unitis arranged, is integrally formed with the cooling plate. In this instance, the operation of the cooling liquid of the cooling platemay directly affect the stopper, such that the stoppermay effectively perform the insulation function between the pair of battery cellsarranged adjacently.

7 FIG. 250 200 250 252 251 1 200 251 250 250 200 250 200 252 Referring to, a stopper′may be detachably fastened to the cooling plate. In this instance, the stopper′may further include a fixing portionextending and protruding from one end of the support portionin another direction (for example, DR). The cooling platemay further include a groove corresponding to a width of the support portionso that the stopper′may be fastened. In case that the stopper′is fitted into the groove of the cooling plate, the stopper′may be caught and fixed to the cooling plateby the fixing portion.

250 200 250 10 1 In case that the stopper′is detachably fastened to the cooling plate, only a stopper′ which is damaged due to heat generated in the battery cells, may be replaced, which may facilitate the maintenance of the battery module.

250 200 250 200 10 250 10 250 In this instance, the stopper′may include a material having a different thermal conductivity from that of the cooling plate. According to some embodiments, the stopper′may include a material having a lower thermal conductivity than that of the cooling plate. Accordingly, the degree of heat transfer to the adjacent battery cellsmay be reduced by the stopper′ in case that thermal runaway occurs in any one battery cell. For example, the stopper′may include a mica material having excellent insulation and heat resistance, but this is an example and embodiments are not limited thereto.

250 250 10 The stopperor′ may have an area of 2% to 30% of each of opposing surfaces between the battery cells.

251 250 250 10 10 10 In case that the area of the support portionof the stopperor′ is 2% or less of the area of the opposing surfaces between the battery cells, the effect of supporting the battery cellsand insulating between the battery cellsmay be insufficient.

251 250 250 10 10 10 10 250 250 10 10 250 250 1 1 According to some embodiments, in case that the area of the support portionof the stopperor′ is at least 30% of the area of the opposing surfaces between the battery cells, it may be advantageous to stably support the battery cellsand relatively improve an initial insulation effect between the battery cellsupon the occurrence of thermal runaway of the battery cell. However, in case that the stopperor′ is heated due to the thermal runaway of the battery cell, the heat transfer to the adjacent battery cellsmay rather be accelerated. For example, in case that the area of the stopperor′ is too large, it may deteriorate the space efficiency in the battery moduleand increase the size and weight of the battery module.

10 250 250 10 Therefore, to effectively suppress the transfer of high temperature and vent gas between the battery cells, the stopperor′ may cover the area ranging from 2% to 30% of the opposing area between the battery cells.

250 251 200 250 10 251 2 250 200 251 250 10 251 3 6 FIG. 7 FIG. According to some embodiments, in case of designing the integral stopperby forming the support portionon the cooling plate, the opposing area of the stopperwith respect to the battery cellsmay be adjusted by adjusting the length of the support portion(a direction DRin). According to some embodiments, in case that the stopper′is designed to be detachably fastened to the cooling plate, there may be a limit to adjusting the length of the support portioninvolved in the fastening. Therefore, the opposing area of the stopper′with respect to the battery cellsmay be adjusted by adjusting a height of the support portion(DRin).

According to one or more embodiments, a temperature rise in any battery cell and heat transfer to adjacent battery cells may be suppressed, thereby suppressing in advance thermal runaway from propagating to an entire battery module.

Vent gas and other substances may be discharged while being suppressed from propagating to adjacent battery cells upon an occurrence of thermal runaway of any one battery cell, and temperatures of the discharged vent gas and other substances may be lowered, thereby relatively improving the safety of a battery module.

According to one or more embodiments, a battery module with enhanced durability may be provided by ensuring that battery cells are relatively stably fixed inside the battery module even though strong pressure is generated due to thermal runaway of a battery cell.

In conclusion, according to one or more embodiments, the safety and performance of a battery module may be relatively improved.

However, the characteristics of embodiments according to the present disclosure are not limited to the effects described above, and other technical effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the disclosure described below.

While aspects of some embodiments of the present disclosure have been herein described with regard to a limited number of embodiments and drawings, the disclosure is not limited thereto and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made thereto within the technical aspects of the present disclosure and the equivalent scope of the appended claims, and their equivalents.